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Adriatic War
The Adriatic War, sometimes referred to as the Italo-Serbian War, was a conflict between the Kingdom of Italy and the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (formerly the Kingdom of Serbia) in the aftermath of the Great War. After the Great War, a majority of Montenegrins supported the unification with other Southern Slavs on a federal basis. However, the "Greens" faction of the National Assembly, supporting a confederation rather than a centralized Serbian kingdom, rose up against the pro-Serbian government as it was in the process of unification, leading up to a Italian intervention and the eventual breaking up of the newly formed Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. The Christmas Uprising On December 22, 1918, the Montenegrin green general Krsto Popović wrote a list of requests to Serbian general Dragutin Milutinović, asking for the termination of resolutions by the Podgorica Assembly furthering the integration of Montenegro into the Kingdom of SCS. Milutinović replied to him the next day, alleging that he was responsible for his troops in Montenegro, but also promised to bring Popović's requests to the government in Belgrade. On December 23, Milutinović's troops ended a smaller uprising in Rijeka Crnojevića and stopped an attack by the Greens on Nikšić. The next day, about 250 Serbian troops and 850 volunteers from nearby Montenegrin clans fought a formation of approximately 1,500 to 2,000 rebel Greens in Cetinje. On January 6, 1919, the Greens initiated a siege on Cetinje, killing some members of the Great National Assembly and killing some Whites. After that, the Greens experienced severe factionalism, in addition to facing the militarily stronger Whites. Meanwhile, King Nicholas was exiled to the Kingdom of Italy, from which the uprising enjoyed substantial support. King Nicholas's Ministers asked for the Italian Expedition Corps in Albania to enter Montenegro, "in order for it to be liberated solely by Italian troops". The Italian monarchy, concerned with communist revolutions spreading from Germany into the Balkans, was eager to reinforce it's collaborators in establishing friendly authoritarian regimes. Early during the uprising, Italian expeditionary troops attempted to take control of the coastal areas of Montenegro under the guise of Entente troop movement, and established a foothold in Cetinje. The Adriatic War The Kingdom of SCS saw these actions as a declaration of war and continued support the Montenegrin Whites. However, as almost all of it's industry and manpower was lost during the Great War, it mostly had to rely on support from the locals. After a long series of skirmishes resulting in the retreat of the Montenegrin Whites into Metohija and encirclement in Ulcinj and Danilovgrad. The losses in this stage of the war were shoddily recorded due to it's disorganized nature, but estimates are mostly in the triple digits. Despite already being exhausted materially, the Montenegrin Whites put up a stiff resistance. The war is oftentimes considered to start on June 6 of 1919, when the Italian troops in Istria and Zadar/Zara crossed the border into Croatia, poorly defended as most of their opponents army was focused on Montenegro. Much of the Croatian coast was occupied by the time Belgrade could react, and soon enough, Croatian nationalists, including the ex-Austro-Hungarian 25th Croatian Home Guard Infantry Regiment and the 53rd Infantry Division, emboldened by the Italian advance, rose up all over Croatia and Bosnia. By the end of the month, most of Croatia and Bosnia were under direct Italian or Italian-allied occupation, with the remnants of the Serbian army only holding on to a few areas west of the Drina. The major battles of the war were in Sarajevo, which was briefly under siege, and Doboj, which is considered to be the final tipping point of the war. Thousands upon thousands of captured Serbian soldiers and civilians suspected to be involved in militant activities were interned there following the Italian breakthrough. Finally, on September 14 of 1919, an Italian detachment entered Belgrade. As most of those capable of fighting were long dead or captured, there was less resistance than expected. Those who weren't either of the former had left to continue a short-lived asymmetrical campaign in areas further east and the harder to reach parts of Bosnia. A peace treaty was signed on October 6, ceasing all hostilities and partitioning Yugoslavia as it is in 1932. Category:Conflicts